·
AGE – Alaska Natives are younger than the
general population. Both death and pregnancies occur at an earlier
age than in other statistical groups.

Classification

Under 18

18 to 64

65 and older

Median Age

Alaskan Athabascan

35.1

58.7

6.1

28.7

Aleut

31.8

62.9

5.3

30.3

Eskimo

39.9

54.7

5.4

24.4

Tlingit-Haida

33.8

60.2

6.0

29.2

Avg. of Alaska Natives

36.6

57.8

5.6

26.9

Avg. of U.S. Population

25.6

61.9

12.4

35.4

·
MARITAL STATUS OF HOUSEHOLDS –

Alaska Natives are more likely to be
single and have more children.

Classification

Married Couple

Single Female

Single Male

Single,

non-family

Average Household Size

Alaskan Athabascan

30.9

24.0

9.7

35.4

2.82

Aleut

40.7

18.4

7.4

33.5

2.86

Eskimo

42.4

22.5

11,1

24.0

3.65

Tlingit-Haida

39.1

20.1

8.9

31.9

2.77

Avg. of Alaska Natives

39.1

21.8

9.8

29.3

3.16

Avg. of U.S. Households

52.5

11.8

4.1

31.5

2.59

“American Indians and Alaska Natives had a higher percentage of family
households maintained by a woman with no husband present and a higher
percentage of family households maintained by a man with no wife present
than the total population.”

·
EDUCATION – Alaska
Natives are more likely to drop out before finishing high school and
less likely to finish college.

Age 25 and Older

Classification

Less than High school
graduate

High school graduate

Some college or
associate’s degree

Bachelor’s degree or more

Alaskan Athabascan

24.6

39.6

28.6

7.2

Aleut

22.5

39.6

29.9

7.9

Eskimo

29.7

40.9

23.4

6.0

Tlingit-Haida

17.6

34.6

37.3

10.6

Avg. of Alaska Natives

25.4

39.3

27.9

7.4

Avg. of U.S. Population

19.6

28.6

27.4

24.4

Studies have found that Alaska Natives tend to take longer to
complete college, averaging 10 years. Cultural conflict,
family needs, and stress of an unfamiliar environment away from
their accustomed family-oriented lifestyle contribute substantially,
according to some students.

·Labor Force Participation Rate
by GENDER: 2000 –

Alaska Native women are more likely to
have a job than average U.S. females.

Age 16 and Older

Classification

Men

Women

Alaskan Athabascan

64.2

57.5

Aleut

62.9

60.8

Eskimo

59.4

56.9

Tlingit-Haida

67.5

62.0

Avg. of Alaska Natives

62.2

58.4

Avg. of U.S. Population

70.7

57.5

·Median Earnings by GENDER:
1999 –

Alaska Native women with jobs bring home
more bacon than the average U.S. female and support more people with
their earnings.

Age 16 and Older

Classification

Men

Women

Alaskan Athabascan

$33,787

$28,871

Aleut

$33,850

$27,354

Eskimo

$33,627

$28,705

Tlingit-Haida

$34,726

$28,705

Avg. of Alaska Natives

$33,259

$27,924

Avg. of U.S. Population

$37,057

$27,194

·Poverty Rate: 1999
– Based on other
reports, Subsistence activities, health issues, stereotyping, and
distance from economic development influence the poverty rates as shown
below

Percentage below poverty
level

Alaskan Athabascan

22.9

Aleut

15.0

Eskimo

21.3

Tlingit

15.2

Avg. of Alaska Natives

19.5

Avg. of U.S. Population

12.4

·
HOUSING

Alaska Natives are more likely to
rent or be homeless than other populations. While the U.S.
average rate of owner occupied homes is 66.2 percent, the average
rate for Alaska Natives is 57.1 percent.

“American
Indians and Alaska Natives living on tribal lands were more likely to
live in owner-occupied housing than those living outside tribal areas.”

·Southern Poverty Law Center, Intelligence Project

Malign Neglect – Racial
violence against Native Americans has drawn attention from the federal
government twice in recent years, but many hate crimes still seem to get
a pass.

by Susy
Buchanan

"There are
systemic institutional racism problems against Alaska Natives that have
occurred for a long time," David Levy, the executive director of the
Anchorage Equal Rights Commission who likens the treatment of Alaska
Natives in Anchorage to that of African Americans in the Deep South 50
years ago, told the commission. "These problems are going to take a long
time to deal with."

While Alaska Natives make up 16% of
the state population, Alaska Native children are involved in roughly
58% of reports to child protection services. The State of
Alaska reports 43% of Children on Welfare are Alaska Native.

In the 2004-2005 school year, 11.42%
of Alaska Native & American Indian students Dropped Out of school.
The rate for All Students was 6.48%. In the 2005-2006 school
year, 10.8% of Alaska Native & American Indian students Dropped Out
of school. The rate for All Students was 6.28%.
Caucasians had the lowest percentage of dropout students. The
Dropout Rate includes students who have transferred.

In the 2004-2005 school
year, 32.98% of Alaska Native & American
Indian students graduated. The rate for All Students was
59.59%. In the 2005-2006 school year,
37.5% of Alaska Native & American Indian students graduated.
The rate for All Students was 63.91%. Caucasians had the highest
percentage of graduates.

·Source:
Alaska Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Human
Rights, June 1999

“OCR (Office of
Civil Rights) questioned if the (Juneau) district was considering
whether a child’s problems in school could be a result of cultural and
linquistic differences, rather than an actual disability. OCR
completed its compliance review and determined that its findings
supported ‘a conclusion that the district did not fully comply with
Title VI, section 504. and Title II.”

“Robin Rehmann
noted that 46 percent of all students in the State are within the
Anchorage School district.”

“Although
recognizing the problem with an analysis based solely on statistics, the
Advisory Committee believes that special education programs in the
Anchorage and the Fairbanks Northstar Borough school districts have an
overrepresentation of Native Alaskans and American Indians.”

“Through its
review of data provided by the school districts, the Advisory Committee
discovered a lack of ethnic diversity in the certificated and
instructional staff within special education programs.”

·
Status of Alaska Natives 2004 Report, Chapter 3:

The life
expectancy of Alaska Natives increased to age 69.5 in 1997.

It was 46.4
years in 1950.

The average
life expectancy for All Americans is 76.5.

It was 68.2 in
1950.

“About 77
percent of rural homes had safe water and sewer systems by 2003.”

“Rates of
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) among Alaska Native children
increased from 2.5 cases per 1,000 births in the late 1980s to 5 per
1,000 in the late 1990s. FASD is many times more common among Alaska
Natives than other Alaskans and other Americans.”

Analysts say
alcohol plays a part in 80 percent of child abuse in all
substantiated cases, without regard to ethnicity. Two parent
families account for 44.6% of cases. From 1997 through 2001,
53% of those cases were Alaska Native. And, 72% of those cases
were due to neglect.

“Alaska
Native women are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault far
more often than other Alaska women. From 2000-2003, 36 percent of the
victims of domestic violence and 44 percent of the victims of sexual
assault were Native, although they make up
only about 19 percent of adult Alaskans.”

“More than
a third of Alaska’s prison inmates are Alaska Natives, although they make up only about a
fifth of Alaskans. The number of Native prisoners increased 50 percent
from 1993-2002, a rate considerably faster than overall Native
population growth. Native prisoners are mainly men ages 20 to 49. Law
enforcement authorities link a large share of crime to alcohol.”

“Diabetes
soared among Alaska Natives in the past 15 years. In 1985, about 16 of every 1,000
Natives had diabetes—about half the rate among other Americans. By 1999,
diabetes among Natives had doubled, to 31.4 cases per 1,000—above the
U.S. rate of 30.1.”

“Heart
disease is now as widespread among Alaska Natives as among other
Alaskans. Twenty years
ago, heart disease was less common among Alaska Natives.”

The leading causes of death among
Alaska Natives are Cancer, Heart Disease, and Unintentional Injury.
Unintentional Injury, once the highest cause, has decreased.
The leading causes of death among White Americans are Heart Disease
and Cancer.

Alaskans were put on 40 to 46 day
waiting lists for substance abuse treatment in 2002. Ninety
percent was for alcohol abuse.

High school student surveys showed an
increase in marijuana use and a decrease in binge drinking between
1995 and 2000.

“Alaska Native
adults are much more likely than non-Natives to smoke … From 1991
through 2002 the percentage of Native adults who smoke hovered between
40 and 45 percent, compared with about 25 percent among non-Native
adults.”

“The percentage
of Native adults considered ‘obese’ climbed from about 18 percent to 30
percent in just the decade of the 1990s. Among non-Natives, rates of
obesity climbed from around 12 percent of adults to over 20 percent in
the 1990s.”